Western New Guinea; recorded from the central mountainous backbone of Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya; Pegunungan Maoke) eastward to the Star Mtns in W Papua New Guinea (longitude 141EE), 2200-4050 m (some of the material cited by Taylor et al., 1982 as Rattus niobe arrogans; Flannery and Seri, 1990; specimens in AMNH).